Ukraine crisis could affect global anti-atom bomb pact - U.N.'s Ban

THE HAGUE (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned international leaders on Monday that the Ukraine crisis could have profound implications for the integrity of a global treaty designed to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons.

Ukraine gave up its Soviet-era nuclear arsenal under the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, which it signed together with Britain, United States and Russia. It provided guarantees of Ukraine's sovereignty in exchange for a commitment, since fulfilled, to give up the country's nuclear weapons.